


things change (things stay the same)

by crying_jaybird



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: (not done by Dick or Jason), A LOT OF DIALOGUE, Anal Fingering, But They're Overage Now & It's More Dubcon, Crying, Dark Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dubious Consent, Gaslighting, Going Back To An Abuser, Jason Todd is Red Hood, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Referenced Past Underage Rape Between Jason & Dick, Somnophilia, Unreliable Narrator, Very little porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:48:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27194011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crying_jaybird/pseuds/crying_jaybird
Summary: Dick never would have expected Jason to voluntarily be in his apartment. He's not complaining and he's more then happy to take advantage, even as it's seeming more and more likely that his little brother is under the influence of something.“You-you still would if you could, right? If I couldn’t fight you and win now.”Dick stops his gentle petting, instead grabbing just one short curl and pulling. Not as hard as he could, but getting there. “You wouldn’t win.”He pulls it taunt and lets go, only to do it again. “But yeah. I would. I probably will.”
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Comments: 15
Kudos: 122





	1. Chapter 1

If Dick is shocked to wake up to Jason in his apartment, he doesn’t show it. He should be, given that Jason has been avoiding the bats like the plague recently and hasn’t spoken with Bruce in months. Instead, he just looks over at the disgruntled looking boy (and he does think of him as a boy), and smiles his bright, show-stopping, you-can-trust-me-I-would-never-hurt-you smile.

“Jay! What a surprise.”

No response, although Jason does bring his knees up to his chest. He’s kind of pathetic looking, kind of adorable. Some things, apparently, don’t change.

The bags under his eyes are new, though. Concerning too.

Dick just shrugs and moves into the kitchen, getting out a pan. Time for communication attempt number two. Pitching his voice up so that it can be heard in the other room, he asks “You still like hot sauce on your eggs?”

Once again, nothing.

It’s okay, it’s not like this is the first time this has happened.

Jason always used to do this when he had something to say but didn’t know how to say it. All of his hyper dramatic “I really think you should stop fucking me,” moments would start this way too.

Considering that’s not a thing anymore, Dick figures this must be an example of the former.

His patience pays off, when while he’s still standing at the stove, stirring, he hears Jason begin. “Everything’s different now. Robin, obviously, but also Bruce and Gotham and just...everything.” He takes a gulping breath in and it sounds like he’s about to start crying.

He manages to gather himself, and continues, “Not you though. You’re still the same terrible asshole you’ve always been. You’ve gotten better at hiding it, maybe.”

Dick just smiles and tilts his head to the side, taking in what’s happening. He should be offended, maybe. But, if after everything he’s made Jason do and has done to him the worst Jason has to say is calling him an “asshole” then he’s counting that as an absolute win.

Jason’s earnestness right now is surprising, as is the fact that he’s choosing to be alone with Dick in the first place. He’s consistently avoided this very scenario ever since he’s gotten back, and now, suddenly, he’s putting himself straight in the middle of it.

Whatever it is that’s happening right now, Dick figures he might as well see how far he can push it. He has the vaguest inkling of knowing that Jason is under the influence of something right now, although he doesn’t know what or even how it is that he knows. He finds that he doesn’t mind quite as much as he knows he should.

He turns off the stove and heads to the couch Jason is sitting on, carefully plopping himself down two cushions away from him. It’s far enough that they’re not touching, but close enough that that could quickly change.

Dick figures that there’s no time like the present to start working on getting his perfect boy back, and although he assumes that he’ll automatically be rejected, Dick grabs a pillow and puts it down in his lap, softly patting it in invitation.

Jason looks surprised for a moment, but he puts his head down against the pillow and moves the rest of his body to accommodate that, so that he’s almost fully horizontal and facing the inside of the couch now, facing Dick.

It’s flattering and sad and so very Jason that he still would go down like this, despite everything.

It’s like they’re back in time. Back to when Dick had a mullet instead of the actually manageable haircut he has now. Back when Jason was still Robin and Bruce couldn’tcouldn’tcouldn’t know (“Go on and tell him, Little Wing! He’ll want to be involved, sure, but he won’t stop me”).

Well, it’s almost like that. Jason’s too big now to be able to lay down properly on the couch. He doesn’t have any of the room the corner cushion sitting to the right of Dick, absolutely empty, would have allowed him.

Jason is trying to fit himself into a position he should have grown out of, and Dick is making no move to shift so that he can be in it comfortably.

Dick has the vague idea that that might be more true then either of them had expected before today, before Jason broke into his apartment to tell him things he already knows.

Even Jason seems a little confused, as though he doesn’t know what he’s doing here.

However, Dick stroking his hair seems to set something off in him, and he begins babbling, obviously self conscious. Getting no answers from the person you’re trying to talk to tends to have that result.

“You-you still would if you could, right? If I couldn’t fight you and win now.”

Dick stops his gentle petting, instead grabbing just one short curl and pulling. Not as hard as he could, but getting there. “You wouldn’t win.”

He pulls it taunt and lets go, only to do it again. “But, yeah. I would. I probably will.”

Jason doesn’t even flinch. He just nods and wiggles his head a little, snuggling into the pillow.

Dick huffs out a breath, taking the hand not already in Jason’s hair and bringing his finger to Jason’s nose, tracing across an outcrop of freckles, darker and more concentrated at that spot then anywhere else on him.

At least, he’s assuming it still is. Besides Jason himself, who even knows what the pit changed? He’s excited to find out.

He’s a little surprised at Jason’s lack of response though. Surely, most people would have an opinion on being told they’re going to get fucked, but Jason just seems to accept it.

“Seriously? You don’t have anything to say about that?”

Jason sighs, and it’s only morning and Dick literally just woke up, but he sounds so tired that Dick almost suggests taking this conversation into the bedroom.

Eventually, he responds, “I think you broke me. I know that sounds like some shitty drama show dialogue, but when I was with Roy I just couldn’t-.”

Dick can’t help but cut him off, and he also can’t quite keep the anger out of his voice. “You were with Roy?”

Jason responds to anger with anger, as he always has. “I was. You didn’t even know and you still ruined it.”

His tone is harsh, but after Dick doesn’t respond, Jason crumbles. “I mean, kind of? Don’t be mad at him.”

Dick shushes him.

“Now, why would I be mad at Roy? We both know he has issues controlling himself, and you’re a desperate slut who’d give it up for anyone who’s willing to have you. I’m not angry with either of you. It’s alright. Sure, I’m a little disappointed you didn’t come to me, but we both know you need someone to fill you up and I wasn’t there. Don’t worry, little brother, I promise I will be from now on.”

“That isn’t what I-,” Jason cuts himself off, seemingly realizing only now that Dick is committed to misunderstanding him. When he finally opens his mouth, all he says is “I hate you.”

“Sure you do, Little Wing. Is that why you came here? To tell me how much you hate me? Something tells me that wasn’t quite your motive.”

Jason doesn’t respond, just keeps his eyes closed and takes deep breaths. It’s at that moment that Dick realizes that all he’s wearing is just a pair of boxer shorts, having been awoken from sleep so suddenly earlier that he still hasn’t changed. It’s also at that moment that he realizes he can feel Jason’s warm breath on his dick through the thin fabric.

It shouldn’t be, but it's kind of inexplicably hot, the way that stuff Jason does always is.

Regardless of how good this feels, he’s always hated when Jason gets this way, all non-responsive and boring. Also, he doesn’t need a damp spot in his underwear this early in the morning if Jason isn’t willing to follow through, and something tells him he should hold off if he actually wants Jason back for good.

With that in mind, he whacks his brother on the back of his head. “C’mon, get up! I made breakfast for us. You look like you could use it.”

Jason just grumbles, seemingly committed to keeping his eyes closed for as long as possible, and Dick smacks him again, a bit harder this time. “Hurry up! What’s wrong with you? Did you stay out too late patrolling last night?”

Jason finally lifts his head and then sits up, seeming to not notice how much closer he’s now sitting to Dick then he was before.

“I couldn’t sleep. I just can’t when I’m alone and it’s not like I can exactly go and tell Bruce ‘you never even tried to avenge me and I’ve almost killed you before, but also could I sleep in your bed like a little kid?’”

Dick snorts, “God, you’re sure he wasn’t fucking you? Not even a little?”

Jason rolls his eyes and bites out, “Of course he wasn’t. Not everyone’s a fucking degenerate like you.”

“Yet you came back to me and not to him. Things to reflect on, little brother.”

“Whatever,” Jason says as he leans back into the couch and grabs the blanket that’s hanging over its edge. He wraps it around himself and then he and Dick finally move into the kitchen, where some now cold eggs and toast await the duo.

They sit at the table and eat together and for once, Dick is silent. That is, until he isn’t.

“So you’re kind of messed up, huh?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, all the better for me, I guess. You have anything to do today? Any Red Hood-sibilities to be meeting?”

Silence. It’s getting annoying.

Sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) Dick jus wants Jason to shut the fuck up and not make any sounds unless they’re grunts or screams or moans, but he can’t believe that the one time he’s trying to make civil conversation Jason is choosing to just not respond.

What an asshole.

Dick gets up out of his chair and walks over so he’s standing behind Jason, and then he puts his hands on Jason’s shoulders and presses, leaning down and putting most of his body weight into it.

“Jay, I’m serious. Considering the fact you’re just hanging around in my apartment while I’m not even conscious, I think I deserve to know some things. First of all, why are you here? What. Do. You. Want?”

Jason seems to actually think it over before he swallows and opens his mouth.

“If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn’t be here, would I?”

Dick smiles freely at that, knowing that Jason isn’t able to see it without twisting his head in a way that’s frankly impossible. It’s wide enough that his mouth almost hurts and he looks to all the world like a cat that got the canary.

“Oh? I bet it’s probably hard having to walk around and pretend to know what you’re doing all the time, isn’t it? I know it’s easier for you if I make all the decisions around here. Don’t worry, I can do that. I’m just happy that you remember and I didn’t have to remind you.”

Jason sighs, “That isn’t what I meant, dickhead and you know it.”

Dick starts massaging Jason’s shoulders, digging his thumbs in harshly enough that Jason can’t possibly ignore the pressure.

“Are you sure it isn’t? Because it feels like you came here all by yourself for a reason. Since you clearly don’t know what it is, let me enlighten you. You need someone to hurt you and tell you what to do and no one else is willing to do that except for me. So you came crawling back to your big brother and you want me to take care of you, the way only I can. Am I getting warm yet?”

“I-That’s not...that isn’t what I wanted.”

“Really? So if I go right now to drop off some documents at the station, you won’t be here when I come back?” Jason doesn’t respond, he just slumps over in the chair a little, hunching in on himself.

“You want me to treat you like an actual person and not a stupid little boy? Then leave. Something tells me you won’t. But, if that’s really how it is, then we should talk after that stakeout Bruce is planning. ”

With that, Dick grabs his plate, puts it in the sink, leaving the kitchen to go to his bedroom, where he puts on clothes. He doesn’t even bother to close his door while doing so.

When he comes back out, Jason is still sitting in the chair, now leaning forward with his forearms on the table and staring forward kind of blankly. Dick waves his hand so closely to his face until he can’t ignore it.

Moving his head back, Jason says “Stop it, you asshole. I’m thinking.”

“You’re thinking?” Dick replies, “that sure is a new one.”

He runs his hand through Jason’s hair one last time and ends the conversation.

“Hope your noggin’ leads you in the right direction. I’ll be seeing you.”

Dick exits the apartment, putting on a warm jacket, and as he does so he looks back over his shoulder one last time, yelling, “Wash the dishes while you’re here!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Check out @smut_and_guts dark!dickjay au on twitter and specifically this AMAZING art, which this is very much inspired by
> 
> https://mobile.twitter.com/smut_and_guts/status/1310482180250824706
> 
> Would appreciate any constructive criticism you have to give!


	2. Chapter 2

Dick ends up getting a little distracted at the station, running into some fellow cops he’s friends with and shooting the shit with them for a while, before getting sucked into listening to a rant about a cold case that one of the guys thinks he’s blown wide open; a woman, raped and then murdered in her apartment more than twenty years ago, especially horrific because she had a fetus in her belly and because the perpetrator was never caught. 

As Dick listens to the passionate defense of how John knows who’d done it- “It was the brother! The handprint on her neck was his. I ran into the bastard randomly, and I just know it was his hand that had been wrapped around her throat,”- he’s reminded that he has his own brother, possibly waiting for him in his apartment. He starts making his excuses to leave, grumbling about how hard it is to get days off and how crooked the police union is, and John leans towards him. 

“Listen, son. I want to bring the bastard to justice, and with today’s tech I can. They have a sperm sample that was found in her, but it’s being held with Gotham PD and they’re not budging because they’re stubborn assholes. I hate to ask this of you, but you have a little more sway over there than the average joe….”

Usually, Dick would make nice and titter on about how he’s no one special, just a person trying to do good in the world who doesn’t deserve any more recognition than any of the other men in blue (he does truly believe it).

However, as is, circumstances aren’t usual and he’s frankly getting pretty anxious to get back and see if Jason was stupid or desperate enough to stick around. He just nods and asks John to leave the name of the victim on his desk, says he’ll look into it. 

As soon as he can, Dick leaves the station, walking home at a quicker than usual pace, although not so quick as to get out of breath. 

While he walks, he vaguely thinks that he’d like to get Jason pregnant if he could, to put a part of himself inside of Jason in a way that no one could ignore. He pushes the thought away, both because it’s ridiculous considering their respective anatomies and because he’d make Jason get an abortion if something like that did, somehow, happen. It’d be too hard to explain to Bruce and the rest of the family, after all. 

He walks into his apartment, trying to turn the knob first before he bothers fishing the key out of his pocket. 

It doesn’t turn on its own, which makes him frown. 

It seems to imply that Jason has actually wisened up. Decided to leave, even despite being high or intoxicated or maybe just very sleep deprived. Dick can’t say that he’s pleased with this outcome, honestly hadn’t been expecting it. 

Reminding himself that no matter what it feels like, he hasn’t actually lost anything new, Dick quietly opens the door and walks in. He takes off his shoes and pads over to the kitchen and living room, checking them over and seeing that they’re empty. 

Well, that’s that, he supposes. 

It isn’t until he enters his bedroom that he realizes that Jason didn’t leave. No, instead he must have crawled into Dick’s bed, where he’s for some reason laying atop the comforter but under the blanket he’d earlier grabbed from the couch. He sleeps curled in on himself, leaning to one side and hugging one of Dick’s pillows to his chest. 

It’s kind of adorable, and Dick considers taking a photo, but before he can get his phone out, Jason is awake and looking at him, his mouth pulled down and pinched in. He looks a little scared. 

Dick moves closer as quickly as he can, stands over the headboard, and leans down so he’s looming over Jason. Now that he’s no longer taller, he takes every chance he can to do so. 

Dick decides to just let his mouth run and say whatever pops into his head, the exact way he’s always dealt with Jason in the past.

“Hey, little bird. You’re just the prettiest little victim, you know that?”

Jason rubs the sleep out of his eye and squints up at Dick. As his mouth twists up even more, he says, “I’m not a victim!”

Dick smiles a bit. It would seem that the things popping into his head are cruel, but that’s really no surprise. 

“No? So you like your older brother fingering you and fucking into you and making you cry? Did you like it when you were fourteen too? I remember how you used to be. You hated me. What, have you decided you actually liked it the whole time and should be proactive about getting back to the way things were? I have to say, you’re doing a pretty great job of it so far. You know, you could give a guy ideas, laying in his bed like that.”

Jason looks up at Dick, now scowling. “Christ, can’t you ever just shut up? I’m sleeping and don’t want to hear that shit.”

That makes Dick laugh a little. Not only is it almost noon and way too late to still be sleeping, but also, just who acts like this? Who goes into someone’s house and lays in their bed and tells them to shut up? Jason’s always been pretty different though, and it seems like that isn’t changing anytime soon. 

“Jeez, okay then sleeping beauty. Ha, I figured you were more of a little red riding hood type, but whatever floats your boat,” before Dick is even finished speaking Jason has turned over, facing away from him, with his hands covering his ears. Something tells Dick that his younger brother is even more exhausted than he’d thought earlier, considering he’s not rising to any of the bait he’s offering, not arguing or back talking. 

He’s just taking it. 

The word pliable comes to mind. It’s a good look for him. 

However, regardless of how much seeing Jason like this lights a fire inside of Dick, he doesn’t just want to sit around all day, watching him sleep. That’s what the nighttime is for, after all. 

With that in mind, he gets on the bed, sitting on the edge and grabs Jason’s feet. He runs his finger down the sole of one foot, and Jason jerks up. He’s always been so sensitive everywhere, and it seems that hasn’t changed. 

“What’s your problem? Please just leave me alone.” 

“What _my_ problem, Little Wing? Maybe the fact you want to be here, interrupting _my_ day and crashing in _my_ apartment, because you apparently can’t sleep alone. You’re behaving like the child you are because you never grew up and learned to have any sense of self-actualization. Don’t get me wrong, that’s amazing for me and for all the assholes and perverts looking for people to hurt in this world. But it’s less amazing when you refuse to talk to me.”

Jason grumbles, but opens his eyes, squints up at Dick, and says, “Well, what do you even want to talk about?”

Dick looks down at him and smiles. They’re finally maybe getting somewhere. 

“Nothing much right now, you’re way too out of it to have anything worthwhile to say. I just wanted to see if you would listen to me,” he says and runs his finger up Jason’s leg, past his hip and up to his ribs, where he drums his hand as he continues. “Let’s move this to the couch, okay? You can sleep there.”

Jason slowly shambles over to the living room, rubbing his eyes and clutching at the blanket he had wrapped around himself earlier. Dick grabs his hand as they sit, and Jason closes his eyes as soon as he can. 

Dick squints for a moment, then decides that this won’t do. 

He pulls Jason’s arm towards himself, and when Jason opens his eyes to see what’s happening, he gestures towards himself and says, “One last thing. Come here and sit on my lap, alright? Then you can sleep and keep being a perfect victim, just for me.” 

Jason sighs but he moves, plopping down on Dick and wrapping his arms around Dick’s neck. He shifts around for a second but then goes mostly limp. Dick can’t help but be a little shocked at how heavy his brother is, but he finds that he kind of likes it. It’s a comforting weight on top of him. 

It does complicate things if Jason ever wanted to physically fight back though. 

Pushing away the thought, he grabs the TV remote, which is thankfully within arm’s length, and turns on the television. Jason makes an unhappy little noise as noise starts up, a boxing match playing at almost full volume. 

Dick runs his hand up and down Jason’s back and shushes him softly, turning the volume down and changing the channel so that it’s showing a replay of an old sixties show. 

He’s only half watching, alternating his attention between the screen and looking down at Jason, who has his head buried into the back of Dick’s neck and his legs spread on either side of Dick’s. 

After enough time has passed that Dick honestly assumed Jason went back to being asleep, he’s proven wrong when the younger boy mutters, “Why are you like this? I’m just not a victim. You’re not some villain and I’m not a victim.” He pauses for a second, then, “I used to watch this show with Bruce, you know.”

Dick had also watched this show with Bruce. 

It makes something angry and hurt and distinctly juvenile curl up in his stomach hearing that Jason had a similar experience. Knowing that the second he had no longer been a carefree little boy who wanted only to please Bruce, Bruce had just gone out and gotten himself someone else. 

He’s had time to deal with it though. Time and also someone to take it out on. The very someone now sitting on top of him. 

With that in mind, he tempers down his anger and replies, “Aw, you always say the sweetest things, Jay. It’s alright though, I’m more than willing to play the big bad wolf.”

Jason tenses up, and Dick can’t see his face, but he just knows that he’s rolling his eyes. 

“Whatever.”

There’s silence after that, with Dick enthralled in the campy adventure taking place on screen, while Jason sleeps, or maybe just pretends to. 

An episode passes, then another. Eventually, the show being played changes, but it’s another that Dick likes, this time from the 80s and aggressively self-referential and bleak. He watches for a while before growing tired of it and switching the channel once again. He settles on a musical Christmas special, marveling at the fact it’s even playing given that it’s only just fall.

When he looks out of the window, he sees that it’s started raining, that it’s now dark and grey and ugly outside. Weather that belongs in Gotham more than in Bludhaven. Maybe Jason brought it with him, he thinks with a smile. 

He’s been running his hands all over Jason’s body this whole time and he’s thinking, in an unconcentrated way, that he’d like it better if he was wearing just boxers or maybe nothing at all, if Jason didn’t have on that pair of grey sweatpants, blocking any real skin to skin contact from happening. 

It’s alright though, there’ll be time for that. 

He starts bringing his hand lower and lower until he’s brushing up against Jason’s ass on every downstroke. Eventually, he does away with the pretext of stroking up and down and just squeezes instead. The flesh feels supple under his touch, but also firm. 

He smacks the right cheek, gently and just once. It results in a surprisingly loud sound and so he stills for a moment, as it wouldn’t do to wake Jason up right now. He’d entrusted Dick to take care of him in his sleep after all, and Dick’s barely even begun. 

After a moment, without even thinking, Dick slips one of his hands from where it’s cupping his brother's ass, first gently probing into Jason’s mouth, where he gathers some spit, and then into his sweatpants. 

Dick spreads his legs, meaning that Jason does so as well due to the way that they’re sitting. 

Dick is reaching from around the back, with his hand being at a slightly awkward angle, and although he takes a moment to skim his fingers over Jason’s penis, holding it in his hand for a second to feel its heft, he quickly moves back to his perineum and hole.

He taps out a few beats and thinks about how he’d like to properly make Jason cry out while hitting him here, on the smooth skin behind his balls and on his hole. He thinks about the noises Jason would make as he works in one finger, moving slowly and trying to minimize friction. 

After not all that much time, his pointer finger is fully seated inside, and so Dick leans back against the couch, turning his attention once more towards the television, which is now playing a western that he’s seen a hundred times if he’s seen it ever. 

He wiggles his finger, crooking it and moving it up and down with no real rhyme or reason. It’s only after some time has passed, long enough that Dick has gotten bored and started working a second finger into the dry heat, that Jason begins to stir. 

He pretends to still be asleep, but Dick can tell he’s conscious now by the way that he tenses for just a second.

Bruce’s kidnapping training is great, but it doesn’t exactly account for being physically on top of your captor. Or them being inside of you. The thought makes Dick hum in laughter. 

Then he wonders if you can give someone Stockholm syndrome despite having never taken them hostage, despite having not seen them in a one on one capacity in years, since they were a kid. 

He wonders what Bruce would do if he asked. Try to ban him from Gotham again, probably. 

Regardless, Jason doesn’t voice any objection to waking up with Dick inside of him. Dick’s sure he was probably expecting it, after all, why else would he let himself be unconscious in Dick’s presence? 

It takes a moment, but after a moment Dick realizes that Jason is for some reason crying. He’s doing an okay job remaining silent but his shoulders jerking up and down every few seconds give him away. 

It’s bizarre. As Dick thinks back on when Jason was younger, the first time around, he can’t remember ever seeing him cry, no matter what was being done to him. 

It was probably a matter of pride, Dick thinks. Maybe Jason just doesn’t have any of it left. 

This seems likely, given that there’s nothing happening here besides a few fingers up his ass, and Jason is out of control. 

Jason doesn’t seem to feel the tears rolling down his face or to even notice that he’s crying. When Dick slowly pulls his fingers out and leans Jason back so that he can take a look at his face. His eyes seem unfocused and are almost aggressively red-rimmed. 

Usually, Dick would be thrilled at the sight of Jason like this, but right now it just makes him feel tired and a little sick to his stomach. 

He feels ill in a way he hasn’t since that one time he got cum on Jason’s Robin uniform and Bruce had noticed. Dick had gotten glared at that whole patrol, and when he was leaving to go back to Bludhaven, Bruce had shoved him aside and asked, “What the fuck is wrong with you? Jason is just a kid. You should stay out of Gotham.” 

Then, he felt like his ground was giving way under him because he’d gotten caught, because he was in trouble. 

Now, there’s no one to get him in trouble. Jason’s an adult and came to him and Bruce is so desensitized that it’s hard to imagine him caring about anything as much as he’d cared about that cum stain. 

With a frown, he decides that he wants Jason to stop crying, or at the very least wants to stop having to see it. 

Dick pulls his brother tight against him and rubs his back. 

“You’re alright. I’m taking care of you now. There’s no need for tears,” he shushes Jason and continues, “I’ve got you. You’re safe. You sleep as much as you need to and I’ll be here whenever you get up, okay?”

Jason’s bawling even harder now, with snot almost coming out of his nose. He’s still completely silent, and it’s unnerving to look at. 

Jason nods in response, nods frantically, as though if he does so enough times everything will really be fine and he’ll really be safe. 

It’s at that moment that Dick’s cellphone, sat upon the tabletop across from them, begins to vibrate. Dick considers not picking it up, he really does. He had told himself he was for once having a full lazy day today, and while that was before Jason unexpectedly showed up, he doesn’t see why he can’t have both things. 

However Dick does know that he has many responsibilities and he, well, feels responsible for all of them. 

If there’s something wrong he needs to know so that he can fix it. 

He softly shifts Jason off his lap, so that he can reach for the phone and as he does so, he’s reminded once again of how much bigger Jason is now than he used to be. 

Bigger now, even then Dick is. He’d meant what he said earlier about being confident he’d win in a fight with Jason. Dick has years of training and experience on him. It wouldn’t be an easy win. 

When he looks at his home screen, Dick sees Bruce’s name lighting it up. 

With a sigh, he picks up, putting his finger to his lips when he sees Jason looking over at him to see what’s going on. Beautiful Jason, who’s still crying and who upon second glance has a little drool on the corner of his lip. 

“Hey. What’s going on?”

Dick hums as he listens to what Bruce has to say, before smiling and replying, “No, I haven’t seen him. You just let him wander off after he got hit with a new breed of pollen we’ve never seen before?” He listens once more to Bruce and nods, “Yeah, that makes sense. Text me when you figure out what it is so that I know if I should be avoiding Red Hood or chasing him down, okay?” After a moment more conversation he nods and hangs up. 

Turning back to Jason, Dick shakes his head. “I knew he’d want something. He only ever calls if he does,” he says. He doesn’t say “I used to be so jealous of how you and he could just talk” and he doesn’t say “Well, those days are passed now” but both statements hang in the air regardless. 

“Anyway, you should have told me you got hit with something. I wouldn’t have left you alone if I’d known. Nothing hurts?”

Jason seems like he’s finally calmed down and he takes a deep breath and shakes his head. “Nothing hurts,” he says, and it sounds more like a question than like anything, but Dick accepts it as an answer. 

“That’s good, but you still can’t go out tonight. I don’t want you collapsing out there, and I can’t exactly follow you around since I already told Bruce I haven’t seen you. Also, you’re way too tired to be vigilanting around Gotham. Honestly, what, have you been copying Tim’s sleeping habits?”

Jason screws his face up as though to argue, but before he can open his mouth to say anything, he yawns. It’s big and aggressive and loud and he flushes red while it’s still happening. 

“See? Proves my point. But you wouldn’t be out tonight either way. I’m not going out unless the world starts ending. I just got my little brother back and I think that’s a cause for celebration, don’t you?”

“It’s not even late enough to be talking about that, Dickface,” Jason says, as he lays back down, plopping his feet in Dick’s lap and negating any impact his argument might have had. 

Dick turns on the phone in his hand to glance at the time and raises his eyebrows once he sees it. It’s later than he would have expected. 

Late enough that they should be eating dinner soon. He doesn’t want to cook, and although Jason is fantastic at it, he doesn’t seem like he’s quite up to the task of doing anything that demands focused attention. 

Delivery it is. 

After a short discussion, Dick orders food from a Chinese place that’s a few blocks away. He then turns to Jason, purposely looks him up and down, and raises an eyebrow. 

“You wanna go get cleaned up, maybe?”

Jason looks angry for a second, but it then turns into a sheepish expression. 

“Yeah, I guess. You got clothes that’ll fit me?”

Dick smiles, already looking forward to seeing Jason wearing his clothes. 

“Probably. Let me check.”

Dick goes into his bedroom and rummages through his closet, eventually finding an old tank top that he doesn’t care about Jay stretching out, along with a pair of sweats with an elastic waistband. He grabs a pair of boxer shorts as well as some socks. Jason had always hated having his feet being bare before and Dick doubts that’s changed. 

He hands the pile of attire to Jason, who then goes into the bathroom. Dick can hear the click of the lock, and it makes him want to laugh. As though he couldn’t get through the door if he wanted to. 

While Jason showers, Dick paces around the apartment, does a stretching routine, and wonders, not for the first time today, if there’s even a point in the way he’s being nice or if it would be better to just do what he wants. 

There’s no guarantee that after whatever Jason is on wears off he’ll want to stay with Dick, after all, and when else will he get a chance like this if that’s true? 

Maybe he’ll be able to convince Jason that he came here of his own free will, to begin with, and that’ll up his chances? 

Time drags on, and still, Jason is in the shower and their food has not yet arrived. Dick is practicing dirty talk in his head out of boredom- “you knew what would happen Jaybird, and you still came to me….you knew what you needed, didn’t you?”- when Jason finally leaves the now steamed-up bathroom. 

Dick smiles, waving at him from the stool in the kitchen where he’s sitting. 

“About time!”

Jason rolls his eyes and grumbles something Dick can’t quite make out, but that sounds like “yeah, yeah”.

Then, the doorbell rings. 

Dick sends Jason over to pick up their food and talk to the delivery girl, and as he’s doing that, he gets a text. It’s from Bruce and reads, “Result: Very lowered inhibitions and amplification of anything he’s already feeling, especially if it’s something not acknowledged,” followed by “It should be out of his system within forty-eight hours, but don’t go near Jason if you see him. Call me instead.” 

Huh. Maybe the old man still cares about the whole costume incident after all.

Dick snorts. Of course, he would. 

This explains a lot about how Jason’s been behaving today. 

Explains why he would have come to Dick in the first place. 

Honestly, the fact that Jason’s apparently been refusing to acknowledge just how tired he is as in character as anything can be. It accounts for the surprising, consistent lack of anger all day as well. He’s definitely acknowledging that aspect of his personality often. 

This has been good though. 

With a little bit of luck, he’ll have his pretty little brother back for good. As a hole and as a punching bag and maybe, this time around, even as something more. 

He’ll have to remember to send Ivy something nice at some point. He’d usually go with flowers but she would hate that. 

Dick looks up from his phone when Jason slams the door shut behind him and brings the food into the kitchen where he’s sitting. He quickly deletes the text and locks his phone. 

As he walks into the room, Jason is blushing, he realizes. And smiling a little. 

Dick’s mood instantly sours. He doesn’t want to see him looking like that if he’s not the one causing it. 

Not even thinking about it, he snaps, “What? Did the delivery girl give you her number? Makes sense if she did. You’re such a slut everyone can tell.”

Jason frowns and furrows his brow. 

“No! I’m not a fucking slut. Not everyone’s like that, asshole.” The “unlike you” is unsaid but Dick hears it anyway. 

He considers escalating the situation. He thinks he’d like to have an excuse to slam Jason’s head into the walls of his apartment. 

However, thinking back to the fact he wants this to be a long term thing, he decides against that. He can be patient. 

Instead, Dick forces himself to unclench his teeth and ask, “Oh? Well, then what’s got you looking like that?”

“She seemed like she recognized you? She asked if we were brothers or boyfriends. It was funny.”

Ah shit. Dick had totally forgotten that it’s Wednesday which means Anne’s working today. She and Dick always joke around whenever she delivers food to him (which is more often than he’d like to admit) and he always tips her extra. It makes sense that she’d notice it wasn’t him picking up the food.

“What’d you tell her? ‘Both’?”

“No! Of course not. I just said we’re friends. I know better than that.”

“Better than what?”

“I mean, I know not to tell anyone we’re….you know. I’m not stupid.”

Oh, this is too good. Dick hasn’t ever really thought about all of the stuff he’d told Jason when he was younger, but it’s clear that Jason has. 

They’re going to have to have a discussion on what’s okay to tell people and what isn’t as well as who can and can’t know what at some point soon, but Dick’s okay with letting the matter drop for now. 

He changes the subject, saying, “anyway, Bruce texted me. He said to not worry about the pollen. Something new that Ivy’s been cooking up, but it doesn’t actually have any effects so far as he’s been able to tell.”

“Really?” Jason sounds genuinely surprised. He’d probably been planning on excusing all this, excusing crawling back to Dick and letting him do what he’s wanted all day, on the drug, and he looks distressed at not being able to do so. 

He won’t question what Dick is telling him though. Even if he wanted to, Dick can’t imagine Jason being willing to actually go and question Bruce on what really was in the pollen. 

It’s pretty great that Jason and Bruce aren’t talking again. At least, it’s great for Dick. 

By the time they finish eating it’s been dark outside for hours, and Jason looks exhausted again. 

Dick’s frankly tired of watching tv, and when he moves to the bedroom, Jason awkwardly follows, as though he can’t tell if he’s going to be turned away. As though Dick would ever turn him away. 

Dick smiles at him and motions to the bed, making it clear that Jason is welcome to lay down in it. 

He himself doesn’t go directly to the bed, instead he walks up to the drawer where he keeps lube and takes it out, then brings it to his bedside table and puts it beside there instead. He blocks it from Jason’s view as he does this, but he figures that Jason probably guesses what it is if he’s been paying any attention at all. 

Dick doesn’t expect anything to happen tonight, but if Batman taught him anything, it’s that it always pays to be prepared. 

As he turns off the light and lays down besides his prodigal brother, Dick feels excitement bubbling up inside of himself. For the first time in he can’t remember how long, it really feels as though everything is going his way. 

Dick hugs Jason to him, in a position that makes it clear he’s still working from a frame of reference where Jason is tiny. Jason doesn’t even try to squirm away though, if anything he relaxes into it. 

After a little while, it’s clear that neither of them are asleep yet, and so Dick decides that he might as well try to begin shooting his shot. 

“Hey, Little Wing?” Jason grunts to show that he’d heard. “You should move in with me. It would be fun.” 

Dick can feel Jason shaking his head, saying no and I don’t know what I want, and coming here was the wrong thing to do and I love you all rolled into one action.

Dick has always appreciated a challenge, and he already knows that he’ll win on this and that he’ll win on everything else he wants, at least in regards to this little brother. 

Jason wants to recreate the past after all. 

Taking in the negative response, Dick just hums a little in response and says, “Well, okay. Maybe you should leave then.” His voice is cold and no longer holds any of the teasing it had just seconds ago. 

Jason startles a little at that, his neck goes stiff on Dick’s chest and his breath catches. 

“What?”

“Well, if you wouldn’t want to live with me, why should you be here in my house, in my bed? It’s a little odd is all I’m saying. Maybe you should go..”

Jason sighs the most long-suffering sigh Dick has ever heard, “You’re such a fucking asshole. I don’t want to go, is that what you want to hear? I’m fucked up and you hurt me all the time and then after you stop caring about hurting me, I don’t know where to go and come back to you? Well fine. It’s all true. It’s not even because of the way you are that I don’t want to live with you. I’d do it if we weren’t so far out from Crime Alley, okay? I would.”

Jason seems overwhelmed and he’s managed to put himself back in his place, without Dick even having to raise a hand or his voice. 

Right about now is the right time to de-escalate the situation though, because while he might usually appreciate the sight of a crying Jason Todd, right now is a little late for all that. Also, he can’t even see it happening, so what’s the point? 

“I’m sorry for upsetting you, Jay. It wasn’t what I was trying to do. Just think about it, okay?” 

Dick wraps his arms around Jason tight, so tight that they can pretend the last years haven’t happened. Tight enough they can pretend that Jason isn’t contorted and curled up to hell laying the way he is. 

As he closes his eyes and begins to drift off, Dick murmurers, “You’re so weird, Little Wing.”

“It’s your fault, so you have to live with it.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Check out @smut_and_guts dark!dickjay au on twitter and specifically this AMAZING art, which this is very much inspired by 
> 
> https://mobile.twitter.com/smut_and_guts/status/1310482180250824706


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